Some things shouldn't be done.

[ryanprins13]

I pull a trailer with mine and once took 1200 pounds of steel to the scrapper on a stock ride. About 15 miles and it was alright, but that would be pins and needles for a long ride. You want to stiffen up the suspension a little and if you can, a B6 swap would be nice. I even flat towed an F150 about 3 miles, but that was SCARY!

B6 swapped, and a little extra rear spring, and I can flat tow a Festiva all over the country no problem. Pulled an Aspire with a tow dolly once, would consider heavier cars as well, but not with one of the Uhaul heavy duty dollies.

Thanks, did you do this with 12in rims or do you have bigger tires?

I've towed loaded U-Haul enclosed 4x8 trailers several times recently, once from Boston to DC, later up to Detroit, all on Interstates. See photo.

I try to keep the speed to about 55 (obviously in the slow lane), and have only done these long hauls on weekends to minimize traffic. I once jackknifed on a cross-town run on I-94 in Detroit doing about 30mph during a snowstorm -- people certainly give you plenty of room after seeing that!

I follow U-Haul's instructions and load such that the hitch goes down about one inch during loading. I get about 27mpg towing using this '93 manual. The hitch is custom made to attach to the strong rear tie-down brackets found on the later years (definitely not on 88s/89s). I think these U-Hauls weigh about 900 lbs empty, so my loaded weight was pretty substantial.

Thanks! I read through some of your old threads, looks like you have a b3 and 12in rims, do you have stiffer rear springs? How was the handling? Did you keep it under 55mph because it would get unstable or just to be safe? Did you ever take it a bit over just to see how it felt? The custom hitch you have, where did you get it made, would they be interested in making another and if so roughly how much?
You got 27mpg with the a/c on going through mountains correct? This is US mpg? What do you get empty with a/c on?
Did you notice any brake fade on long descents or was it fine if you kept the rpms's up? I understand it takes longer to stop, just wondering if they fade.
Thanks again.


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[jwt101]

A friend of mine was towing a 1972 mg midget on a dolly with his 1989 jeep Cherokee and it quit on him on the highway about 4 miles from his house. He called me and I went out with the 1989 automatic festy and towed him the rest of the way home. It was a sight to see. My little car towing a jeep with a tow chain with a car and dolly on the back of the jeep. It didn't like it much but it did it just fine, lol.

[harpon]

Never towed a trailer with either the Festivas or Aspire, but I once hauled a spinet piano in the back of the old 88 Festiva.

And I didn't even spin it.

[scitzz]

[QUOTE=ryanprins13;709578]Thanks, did you do this with 12in rims or do you have bigger tires?



I did it with all stock equipment, I have upgraded a bunch of ways since and am much happier. I really would not recommend that heavy of a load on stock equipment. Now, I have a second gen B6 swap, aspire swap, heavier springs in the rear. I flat towed a Festy from Amherst VA to Chapel Hill NC just a few months ago, through mountains. You could tell I had a car back there, and the rake of the car being towed kept its front tires from turning well, so I had to be a little more careful than other cars I have flat towed in the past, but it did fine.

Towed my daughters car on that setup the year before for a couple hours from Richmond VA to Chapel Thrill and did 80+ the entire way, no itch.

Towing my trailer from FL to NC laden with items from a storage unit(800 or so pounds plus 200 for trailer) with bad alignment got me something like 12 MPG

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

ryanprins13,

I just have 12" wheels with 12-by-155s.

I should mention that this is definitely two-hands-on-the-wheel driving. It can get pretty exciting when a semi passes you doing 80+ or when you get crosswinds on tall bridges, and you need to keep lots of open space ahead of you when going downhill (I do not have any sort of brake upgrade).

[old yellow]

I believe Damkid pulled a 323 GTX with an Aspire from Virginia to Ontario.

Also old yellow if the car is on the dolly the drive wheels arent turning.

i'm talking about the car that is being used to pull the one on dolly.... not the one on the dolly..... sorry!